Day 3, 2022 - The Summit Lake Adventure

July 19th

Should have known. And sign should read - “Road not maintained at all”

Up at 0345 staring at the ceiling. Turn off phone alarm set for 0400. Make coffee while dressing, beverages into ice chest. Headlamp on and take Beau out for potty break. Unlock truck and headlights come on and shine on two small Airstream trailers parked just ahead. Dang it! Everything and everybody into the truck. 0415 rolling onto highway 97 slightly ahead of schedule. It’s dark and waiting for coffee to have some effect. It was about an hour and 45 minute drive (or so I thought). Highway 97 to Crescent cut-off road to highway 58 and left at Crescent Lake. On other side of Crescent Lake make a hard right hairpin turn up onto FS-6010 and note sign recommending high-clearance vehicles. Oh. My. Bagels! Time to wake up. What have I gotten myself into (as I watch Beau bouncing up and down in the rear view mirror). Slow way down. First time I’ve ever switched my truck into 4WD “LOW”. The dash lights up - Switch Shift to Neutral. 4WD LOW engaged; Anti-skid Control OFF; Traction control OFF; and may the Force be with you. I still had cellular reception and checked Runningbird’s SPOT and still no activity for the morning. I had tried to time it so I could arrive at a PCT crossing before she reached one of those points considering she would wait for there to be enough light. The trail and road (if I may call it a road) both paralleled the far side of the lake fairly close together and criss-crossed several times from the spot where Runningbird had camped and before the trail headed off on its own. As I approached the end of the road and the spot where she had camped the SPOT gave me a track. It was 8 minutes behind me. I missed her! I turned around (not easy) and headed back hoping to intercept her before I was too late. Arriving at the last crossing opportunity I got out of the truck and started calling her name in all directions. Peggy! Peggy! Then I was slammed by a cloud of mosquitos. Thy were everywhere and even in the truck. I was getting swarmed and had no where to go. I checked the Spot one more time and there was a track on the FS road I had come up on. I started back down the carnival-ride road towards the spot but she wasn’t there. It was a fake. The next spot track 15 minutes later showed her well up the PCT trail. I had missed her. Failed. We had crossed paths and not even known it. Nothing I could do except swat mosquitos and drive down.

It got worse!

Then came a text.

Back on a paved road I stopped at peaceful Crescent Lake and took Beau down for a swim and hoped the skeeters would follow me out of the truck. He had a great time in the water and the mountains were magnificent. Then Runningbird called and I told her the whole story. She was so sad and not just because we had missed each other. She had been eaten alive by the mosquitos. They got in her tent, up her shirt, in her bandana, everywhere. She had a horrible night and was swollen with bites all over. She needed Benadryl, Benadryl lotion, and mosquito repellent.

Beau in Crescent Lake, OR and Thielsen Peak, OR

We discussed the next option for meeting up which would be Willamette Pass on highway 58 later in the afternoon. She also asked me to research where she could get a shower.

Beau and I headed back toward Sunriver and the trailer and stopped for supplies along the way. It took three stops to get what we needed. I had intended to try and get a nap but it didn’t really work out that way. You know, one thing gets in front of another. I researched on Guthooks the options for getting a shower and found that the Shelter Cove Resort had showers for hikers - 2 dollars for 3 minutes and it was only a mile from the trail. On the way back towards highway 58 and our rendezvous I stopped at Subway to get Runningbird a Veggie sandwich. Surely that would help her feel better. We found a good spot to park right where the PCT would cross the road and I took Beau for a walk and then gave him a good brushing while we waited.

When Runningbird arrived she was near tears. She could not decide what she wanted to do. She really wanted a bath rather than a shower. She wanted to go back to the trailer until I explained it was parked nearly 2 hours away. Then she decided she would just keep hiking. She was exhausted, hungry, thirsty, sore, swollen, itchy, and frustrated. Her body was one big depository for mosquito bites. I needed to get the world to slow down for her just a bit. I suggested we not make any decisions for a few minutes and just take a bit to relax. Beau moved into position to get some loving and I gave her a Gatorade and peanut butter pretzels. In the end we decided to drive a few miles down the road to the “Inn at the Pass” and got a room for the night. It had a bathtub, comfortable bed, and Beau was welcome.

I complained that I wasn’t prepared to stay the night and didn’t have a change of clothes. She looked at me with the “are you kidding me” look of a PCT hiker covered in dirt and mosquito bites. So I did a load of laundry at the Inn. I didn’t have my medications. One night won’t kill you was the response. The trailer was all alone in the middle of the woods two hours away. She came back with “the trailer will be fine for a night”. She was right. What was my deal? I had nothing really to complain about. Life was good. I was just tired and hungry too. Runningbird was the one out there alone each day, night after night sleeping on the ground, mile after mile, with only the bare essentials if even that. THE BIG SISSY would be best off to just stop opening his mouth.

She took three successive baths, slathered herself with the Benadryl lotion, took a Benadryl tablet, enjoyed her Subway sandwich and a small bottle of wine, and we watched “The Man from Snowy River” on DVD.

And the world slowed down.